I Never Dreamed Someone Like You (Could Love Someone Like Me)
by Sixty Five Roses
Summary: Sharon and Andy have an honest conversation and address fears and expectations.


_"Could it be  
>That the lady is me<br>In the photograph  
>I'm afraid<br>'Cause it feels too good  
>That I want it so bad<em>

_It's just not true_  
><em>Couldn't ask for anymore than you<em>  
><em>Because you look at me<em>  
><em>As though I'm beautiful<em>  
><em>Could it be that you want me<em>  
><em>I never dreamed someone like you<em>  
><em>Could want someone like me…"<em>

**Katie Irving**

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><p>Andy's was staring at her, the shade of brown in his eyes turning from the usual rich chocolaty color to that of dark roasted coffee beans. She could almost feel the warmth emanating from his gaze and hitting her face, or maybe she was just flushing.<p>

At this stage of their relationship, it was pointless to deny that she knew he had feelings for her. Most of the time, Andy was an open book and she knew how to read him very well. She knew what to say to push his buttons and how to gain his attention when needed; she could tell how he would react to different situations and was able to understand what he was thinking just by watching the way he drank his coffee or held his pen. Sometimes she could tell by his handwriting on a case log how he felt about the way the case ended. There was just one thing that she could not comprehend, no matter how hard she tried: what on earth did he find in her?

Why was she, out of all the women he ever dated, so special to him? She was a good friend to him, she already knew that. She was so different than his rumored type; not young, not blonde, myopic, a single mother and married for the most part of their acquaintance. What was it in her that he was so attracted to?

Her name left his lips, soft as a whisper. She blinked a few times, as if to push her thoughts aside and smiled.

"You've been awfully quiet tonight," he said and his hand crept over the dinner table and touched hers. She looked lost for words and then her lips spread open and an incoherent stutter left her mouth. Andy thought it was utterly adorable. Sharon thought it was absolutely horrifying.

"The thing is… well, I'm thinking… the way you…" Andy was able to make the words but he still had no clue what the hell was going through her mind. Their dinner tonight started out being quite weird. Sharon seemed to be deep in thoughts throughout it, which wasn't her usual state during their dinners and he looked at her for a while, trying to discern what was going through her mind. He watched the way she delved deeper into her own thoughts and it was one of the most fascinating things he's ever watched her do. She seemed calm and distraught at the same time and by the range of emotions that surfaced across her face, Andy could tell that there was a storm raging within her. "Why?" she managed to blurt eventually.

"You'll need to explain that one to me," Andy said, slightly amused by Sharon's uncharacteristic confusion.

"Why do you like me?" Sharon's face flushed significantly as the words left her mouth.

"You mean, what about you makes me **love** you?" Andy never thought he'd enjoy tormenting her this way, but it was somewhat satisfying to see her shifting uncomfortably in her chair. Sharon nodded quickly. "Well, to be honest, if I start listing all the wonderful qualities I find in you, it will take us three days, but I'll tell you what I love most about you," he said and Sharon nodded again, her head movement resembling that of Provenza's bobble head doll. "The thing I love the most about is that your mere presence makes me feel inspired; it gives me strength to try and be a better person." Andy could tell by the expression on Sharon's face that she did not expect to hear that.

"B… but, I'm not…"

"You may not know that you have this effect on people, but you do, actually," Andy said. He entwined his fingers with hers and gently squeezed her hand. "Sharon, the reasons I developed feelings for you are really not that important here," he smiled. "What's important is whether or not you also have similar feelings for me."

"I… I… ugh, I…" She squeezed her eyes shut and then started again. "My feelings are complicated," she said, her voice thick with emotion. She looked at their joint hands for a moment and then at him. "Andy, I'm gonna tell you something very personal, and I need you to understand me, okay?"

"Sure," Andy replied and looked at her, noticing the tears that misted her jade eyes.

"Before Jack, no one ever wanted me as a friend, let alone as a girlfriend." Andy stared at her with disbelief, but didn't say a word. "We met in college. He was a very popular guy and out of all the girls he could have, he chose me. And after we started spending time together, I fell for him; I fell for him hard. He used to pass notes to me during classes with Shakespeare quotes, and he wrote poetry about me. I couldn't say no to him, to anything he asked," she paused, trying to get a hold of herself. "Bit by bit, he started changing me; he expected me to dress differently, to be less 'square', to drink and smoke and socialize with his friends, who were disgusting, by the way. My parents hated him but I refused to listen to them when they said he had a negative influence on me. They weren't satisfied with the way I dressed; they were definitely not happy with my smoking and swearing. And they flipped out when I told them that Jack will sleep in my bed with me. My mother even threatened that if we dared touching each other, she'd pull my tuition and transfer me to a community college. The threat worked well, because I was so scared that if they'll catch us making out and I'll have to move back home and never see him again that I didn't even let me kiss me that night." She looked downwards for a moment and Andy could see the tears that got caught in her long thick lashes. "Shortly after we returned to LA, he proposed and of course I said yes. You can probably guess how my parents reacted, and honestly, now I can understand them. I wasn't even 19 yet and my mother thought I was too young. And I thought that maybe if I asked Jack to wait a year or two before we get married, my parents would be okay with that, but he became angry. He said that I'm ungrateful, that he's the only reason I even have friends and that he should have listened to his friends when they told him not to waste his time on me because I was saving it for the worms; he said that he wasn't gonna wait for a whole year and definitely not two to marry me and that it was time for me to start acting like a real woman."

"What an asshole!" Andy felt himself becoming pissed. He has had his share of women and even popped a couple of cherries when he was in college, but he never, not even once pressured a woman or a girl to enter a committing relationship with him just for the sake of having sex with her. He knew Jackson Raydor was a lowlife, but he never thought the man would ever go that low, especially if Sharon's description of him as a chick-magnet was true.

"We got married as soon as the school year was over, and for the first few years things were good, until I got pregnant with Emily and Jack started spending more and more time away from home. He said that he was working so he can provide for our family and I believed him…" she bit her bottom lip. "I think you know the rest of the story." Andy nodded slowly. "Andy, you have to understand; the only man who ever wanted me, never really wanted me at all; he definitely didn't want me for who I was, and even when I changed, I was not good enough for him… I care for you, and you're a wonderful friend and I know you want me, but…"

"The thought of opening your heart to someone again, after being used and rejected so cruelly is petrifying," Andy said. Sharon nodded slowly. "I can't blame you, Sharon. What Jack has done to you was horrible." He tried to speak calmly, but his insides were raging. Sharon was probably a very insecure girl when she was in college, the kind of girl it was easy to lure into one's bed because she never expected someone to like her. Jack used and abused her, crushed her heart to pieces so small that even 30 years later, she didn't manage to fully reassemble. And the fact that after all these years, she still didn't feel like she deserved to be truly loved by someone was infuriating. Andy knew he wasn't the best of men. He engaged in casual sex rather than settle down, he was not a great father and he definitely was a lousy husband, but he never tried to make a woman feel like she wasn't worthy of love. In fact, he was pretty good with making women feel satisfied about themselves.

"It's not that I don't have feelings for you, Andy," Sharon started, "it's that I am not sure I can find the courage to act upon them. And also… I'm not your type, we both know that."

"And what would my type be?" Andy inquired.

"Younger girls, more… experienced."

"I'd say you're experienced," Andy smiled at her warmly.

"Not the kind of experience you're probably looking for," Sharon said.

"Sharon, what are you trying to say, really? That I'm only interested in you because I want to get into your pants?"

"I don't know, aren't you?"

"It feels like a trick question," Andy admitted. Sharon pulled her hand out of his and looked downwards. "Sharon, I enjoy spending time with you. What I see in you is a dear friend, an intelligent person and a potential partner with whom I'd love to be in a committed relationship and yes, I'd also love to have sex if and when you will feel ready. I will never pressure or manipulate you into doing anything you don't feel comfortable doing. And it's important to me that you know that." He opened his hand and Sharon inspected him for a moment before putting her hand back in his.

"I never dreamed someone like you could want someone like me," she sighed.

"I could say the same thing," Andy replied. His words and playful tone made her smile.

"Andy, do you wanna go out on a date with me?" she asked and he could see the spark of hope that lit in her eyes.

"I thought you'd never ask."

THE END

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><p><strong><span>AN: **As always, I'd love it if you to let me know what you thought of this fic in either reviews or PMs.

The song in the beginning is called I Never Dreamed Someone Like You (Could Love Someone Like Me) by Katie Irving, from the Carrie 1976 soundtrack.


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